Switch-operating mechanism.



No. 873,741. v PATENTEIMDEC. 17, 1907.

' E. E. FREDERICK.

SWITCH OPERAHNG MEUHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APB..12,1906.

nal

liihl'lli UU., iM), Ol*` PITTSBURG, lENNSYLVANlA.

{SWITCH-@PERATNG MECHANISVI.

:peeilcation of Letters Patent.

Patented Ese. 17', 1907.

rf; concern:

l l, Claris it, herinneren, l niled States, residing at county eln.lleghenifv and inni have invented a new 'teh-Uncra-ting tiezhanisni,ol

lellevue. in

i d I.

ne rollo ving is speciii a,

i and closing electric ebiect is to provide simple novel nature, wherebya ie ad. i ,g device is employed for operating the switch, andsuccessive corresponding movements in the same direction of said t,alternately, the opening l )slof oi the switch, thus' making the hereolexreedingiv simple, and

and important object is to pro vide a structure ei' the above characterthat can readily installed in any eta variety of 'irai-3s, and is notliable te become inoperative or rli""anged.

e the invention is undoubtedly open es changes and modifications, therred nbedinient thereof is illustrated ipanjying drawings, wherein sideelevation of the switch.

prete i i is a ing. iis i 'ver tical sectional view through the same. l?is a perspective view ol said switclf with the casing removed. Fig. 4 isa top pan Fig. is a detail view of the standard and parts' associatedtherewith, -Mi-il standard being shown partially in scc i. G is a detailvien', :illustrating the "ie contact elements when the switch is ci ied.Fie. 7 is detail sectional P" Y O view on thc line ror dig. a. l

lelie numerals er rel'erence designate corin the eini'iodimentillustrated, a base El is erni'ilolved whi h is contracted ol suitableinsulating niate iai, aml has an Vnpstanding arniuiarllai Within therecessed seat lern-red l; ge is secured a plate 10, 'ng a nidard 'ilthereon, which standard ric to the ilange Si, and has its outer portiontabular. A shalt i2 is ,urna led in the 'inner portion of the standardas secured te one end and on one 'l standard, a r het wheel i3.

op' member, in the lerni of a plini- Les more particularly ably mountedin the tubular i l i, l l

l l l l l l l l i Fig.

portion el the standard, and has at its outerv end a push button l5,prel'erablj,Y of insulating material. A coiled spring lo', arrangedwithin the tubular portion of the standard, has its outer end disposedin a socket l? in the plunger, and serves to yieldingly maintain theplunger in ils outermost position. rThe said plunger is provided on oneside with a lug 1H, slidablymounted in a slot 1) in the standard, saidlug having secured thereto a yielding dog 2() that cooperates withtheteelh el' the ratchet wheel. A detent spring 2l,A secured to the baseplate 1U, also coacts with the teeth ofthe Wheel lil to prevent itsretrograde movement. lt vill be apparent iromihe above that ill theplunger 14 is rer-iprocaled, the wheel land the shalt l2 to which it issecured \\'ill be given a step by step rotation.

Secured te the opposite end of the shaft to that carrying the ratchetwheel lb, and located on the opposite side of the standard, to saidratchet wheel, is a contact member. '.lhe same comprisesa supportingplate 22, which in the present embodiment, is substantially triangular,but the shape may be varied .i The corners-oi this plate have ears 23,and carried by said ears are al plurality of separate and independentcontact elements or devices. These devices each comprise metallic heads23 located on op )osito sides of the plate, and connected by a s ank 24,as clearlj,r shown in 2. insulation 25 serves to maintain the variouscontact elenients out o1" electrical engagement with the flate 22supporting them. The present em iodilnent is a double pole switch, andtherefore a pluralityT of sets of yielding contacts coact with the abovedescribed inember, As shown, these yielding contacts are in the form ofspring` plates 2G having doubled terminals 27, disposed in the paths ofmovement of" the heads 24, and are ranged in opposing relation, so thatwhen one el the contact elements is located between a set of thesprings, said springs will he in electrical communication through theelement. The springs are moreover so disposed that the contact devicesof both sets will be connected at the same time, all of which 'isillustrated in Fig. 3.

The spring devices 26 have enlarged terminals 28 that rest upon theilange 9 ol" the base, and are secured thereto by binding posts 29arranged uponthe ilange over the plates "l" The binding posts, as shownin a series' of conductor-receiving openings 51A that pass through theflange, and the posts have socket members 32, the openings of ...whichare alined with the openings 31, as

illustrated in Fig. 7. Holding screws 33, carried by the socket members,serve to secure the conductor wires to the binding posts. A suitablecasing is preferably em )loyed for the mecl'ianism, said casing in tliepresent embodiment being shown as cylindrical, and being designated 34'.It completely iucloses the base, and is held in place by suitable screwsthat engage in bayonet slots 36, formed in said casing. The casing ispreferably provided with an insulating lining 37, and has a centralopening 23S, through which thcI plunger 15 projects. It will be clearthat if thc leads of any electric circuit are pro erly connected to thebinding posts and lili; plunger is reciprocated, the rotatable contactelements will alternately move into and out of engagement with thesprings, thus closing and opening the circuit. There is but oneoperating device necessary and the movement of the same thereof Iis al-Ways in the same direction to both open and close the switch, thusmaking it exceedingly simple and not readily misunderstood. lhemechanism moreover is made up of simple parts that are not liable tobecome inoperative or deranged.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the construction, operation, andmany advantages of the herein described invention will be ap arent tothose skilled in the art, and it wil be understood that various changesin the size, shape, proportion, aud minor details of construction, maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofthe advantages of the invention. For' instance, the material of whichthe various parts are constructed may be of any desired or suitablecharacter, and while the present embodiment is a double pole switch, itwill be evident that by eliminating one ol" the contact springs, it maybe readily changed into a single pole switch.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. ln a switch of the character described, the combination with a base,of a tubular standard carried thereby, a shalt journaled on the innerportion of the standard, a contact member carried by the shalt on oneside oi' the standard, a ratchet wheel carried by the shalt on the otherside ol the standard, a plunger slidably mounted within the standard andprojet-.ting therefrom, said standard having a slot, a dog secured tothe standard and operating in the slot, said dog coperating with theratchet wheel to move the same, f

from the outer end of the standard, a shaftjournaled transversely in theinner endet the standard in. line with the plunger and having its axisintersecting the axis oi the bore, said shaft having its ends projectingon opposite sides oi said standard, a contact member 'carried by oneprojecting end of the shaft on one side or' the standard, and aetuat'ing means for the shaft located on. the other side of the standard andconnected to` the other projecting end of the vshaft and to the plunger.

3. In a switch of the character described, the combination with atubular standard having a slot in l'inreside provided with closed ends,of a rotaryv contact member, a rcciprocator r plunger slidably mountedin the bore oli) the standard, and actuating means for the contactmember including the dog secured to the side ofthe plunger and extendingthrough the slot of the standard, said dog having a oortion abuttingagainst the end walls of the slot and constituting means lor retainingthe plunger within the standard and limiting the movement of saidplunger.

4. In a switch oi3 the character described, the combination with a basehaving an annular ilange forming within it a recessed seat, oi astandard secured to the base within the scat and surrounded by saidiiangc, a shaft journaled trarf versely on the inner portion of thestandard and projecting beyond op osite sides thereof, said shaft havinga ratcliet wheel on one projecting end, and a contact member on theother projecting end, said` Wheel and member being thus disposed onopposite sides of the standard` and within the flange, a reciprocatoryactuating plunger slidably mounted on the standard and having a dogcoacting with the wheel, a plurality of spring contact elements mountedon the outer tace of the lla-nge oi the base and disposed in the path ofmovement oi portions ot the rotatable Contact member, and binding postssecured to said flange and engaging the contact springs to hold the samein position.

ln testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, i have heretoaiiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

. ED'WIN E. FREDERICK. lNitnesses:

G. l. HoLnsnrr, C. N. E. FREDERICK.

